BJP sees a plot as President, Narendra Modi events clash

NEW DELHI/PATNA: The battle between the old allies-- BJP and JD(U)-- is getting fiercer in the run-up to Narendra Modi's rally in Patna on October 27. Two programmes for which President Pranab Mukherjee is being invited to the state capital on the eve of the Hunkar rally has given BJP cause for concern.

The BJP is worried that the heavy security required for the President's visit and the barricading could become a hurdle for the people coming to Patna to hear Modi, who is now the party's Prime Ministerial candidate. While one function-a convocation ceremony at IIT-is proposed to be in Patna itself on October 26, the other at Ara, around 60 kms from the city, the next day. Though the state government is not directly involved in the functions, the BJP suspects its hand in it.

"This is his old style of holding programmes to overshadow an opponent's rally. We are worried about the inconvenience it may cause as we are expecting unprecedented crowd in the city," senior BJP leader and former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi told ET on Thursday. The BJP had announced its plans for the Hunkar rally on March 20 and had taken the decision to invite Modi for the Hunkar rally as early as last year, despite knowing that it would upset the JD-U, which was then its ally.

The party perceives it as a tactic of the state government to scuttle Modi's rally which was planned eight-nine months ago. "The Bihar government's facilitating his visit speaks volumes about the attempts being made to take the focus away from Modi by even drawing the President into it," BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

According to official sources in Patna, the programme had been decided as early as in July. They said it was still tentative and a final decision will be taken soon.

The function which the President is attending in Patna is being held at Ravindra Bhawan, which is in the heart of the city.